George Black
Published at Aberdeen by James Nicol, Printer to the City and the University, in the Year of our Lord 1726. <2>
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To the Distinguished and Honourable
Patrick Duff, Esquire
of Premnay,1
noble Rector of this gracious University,
universally regarded for his singular humanity,
devoted friend of all good arts
these Academic Theses are gladly dedicated,
in witness of homage due,
by GEORGE TURNBULL, President. <3>
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Academical Theses
Those who insist that the World is not governed by mind are obliged to attribute design and reason to a Nature which neither perceives nor thinks. It is no less absurd to imagine that there are several deities, unless a belief is the more credible, the further it is from simplicity. But nothing is simpler than truth. There is therefore one mind which by its own force and reason moves and governs the whole of Nature. That this mind, to which all things are subject and obedient, is not jealous and malevolent, seems to us to have been proved by the sounder Ancients in the following argument. Where there is no clash of opposed interests, there is no malice. Without an adversary there is no conflict. The first and universal cause is not beholden or subordinate to any nature, and nothing can resist it. It is therefore utterly remote from all malignity of heart.2 And if there is one Father and Governor of all things, it is certain that his own advantage cannot be opposed to the safety and preservation of all things. He cannot intend anything with his mind but the most perfect provision for nature, nor can he go beyond that; and on the other hand there is nothing that can provoke him. An infinite Deity of an intractable and malignant character is in truth nothing but a ridiculous mingling in the same thing of perfect and imperfect, of powers and deficiencies that mutually destroy each other. It is therefore an infinitely good and perfect mind that moves and governs the whole mass of nature, and it manages all things most beautifully. That is powerfully confirmed by this Argument, which is also very easy to understand. On the assumption that there is a God—as assuredly there is—and all things are governed with the most excellent skill and design, it is nevertheless inevitable that many things will appear imperfect to us which are in fact most perfect and possessed of
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no fault.3 For a mind that has no grasp of the whole succession and Relationship of things, where all things are connected and adapted to each other, does not have <4> a full view of anything. But if there is no GOD—which it is wicked even to suppose—there can be no order, no consistency, and in short no good at all. For what can one expect from a blind impulse but randomness and inconstancy; or what from omnipotent evil but perpetual misery and disasters all around?
II
The supreme Craftsman himself alone has power to embrace the whole fabric of the World in his mind and thought. But the more closely we can see into the powers and motions of things, and the more extensive the portion of nature we can grasp with our minds, the more clearly we see that all things are ruled by the same divine reason, and on more careful examination many things which at first glance seem to be far otherwise, are discovered to give evidence of the most provident and cunning art. All things pretty well appear to be one, controlled by a single force and a single harmony of nature. From this it is reasonable to conclude that nothing misses its Mark, and that we should in all modesty acknowledge the feebleness of our minds, if anything seems to us to be inconsistent with this art. Before we can say of anything that it is well or ill designed, we must first of all inquire what is the function of the properties with which it is endowed, and what power they have in themselves; which parts are neatly fitted and combined with each other and which are less consistent with its purpose; or whether indeed it is subject to a nature outside of itself and what the effect of that is. For generally speaking it is most true that no finite thing can be said to be beautiful or perfect absolutely, but only in the relation which is has with another thing. And anything that is moved and governed by rules, and would either completely perish or be forced into a worse condition if the rules were changed, has been rightly and properly fashioned,
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and deserves a place among the varied productions of infinite art. Nor is the Artificer to be charged with error for anything that happens of necessity because of the very nature of the thing, or as a result of the laws by virtue of which all members beautifully conspire together for the security and perfection of the whole. Anyone therefore who wishes to make a fair judgement of the system of the world, must obtain a thorough knowledge of the sizes, positions, and powers of each of the Planets, as well as of the properties of the orbits in which they turn. It is only by collating and comparing them with each other that we can distinguish the order in that structure from the aberrations. It is by the same process that we must judge of the earth, our home, and of all things, animate and inanimate, <5> with which it is filled. So too if the question is raised about man as to what the perfection of human nature consists in and in what ways it fails of perfection. And certainly nothing is so important for us as to make a most careful inquiry into this subject. Since man consists of body and mind and is equipped both with organs of sense and with intellect and will, the question can only be investigated on the basis of the force, the use and the mutual relations of these faculties.
III
The true Physiology clearly proves that the solar system was constructed in the beginning with the best design and is so governed at all times.4 Gravity, by whose universal force this structure holds together in its proper state and which is the cause of almost everything that happens in it, is not natural and